The best way to describe Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch is comprehensive. As the name implies, it’s designed to offer anything a Smash fan could want, with an absurdly huge cast of characters and a large array of play options, including a new in-depth single-player mode. That comprehensive nature extends to the in-game music player, which covers a range of different games and series. What makes it really great, though, is how Nintendo has built the player with the Switch in mind. It turns the gaming tablet into an oversized MP3 player that’s perfect for jamming to Splatoon.

In terms of pure numbers, Ultimate features more than 24 hours of music spanning 718 different tracks. When you go into the music player — which is a bit buried under the “sounds” section of the “vault” menu option — you’ll see everything divided by game series. So if you’re in the mood for some lighthearted Animal Crossing tunes or an orchestral Xenoblade Chronicles score, they’re easy to find. For Nintendo fans in particular, it’s an amazing collection. Game music can be both expensive and hard to find, so having such a large library in one place is amazing.

Some games are better represented than others, particularly when it comes to non-Nintendo series. There are 26 tracks spanning the Castlevania franchise, for instance, and more than 30 from Street Fighter. Meanwhile, there’s a grand total of two songs from Final Fantasy VII. Still, overall it’s a fantastic, sprawling catalog — one that’s been bolstered significantly by new additions like Splatoon.

Because Ultimate is a Switch game, you can either listen to these songs through your television’s sound system or stick a pair of headphones into the tablet. But the feature is particularly well suited for listening on the go. At any point when you’re in the music player, you can hold L and R to turn the screen off, while the music still plays. In that mode you can use the shoulder buttons to skip tracks without worrying about the touchscreen. There’s even a playlist feature so you can build up an ideal mix of songs and not have to worry about the controls at all.

The Switch isn’t exactly the most convenient portable music player, of course. It’s pretty ungainly in that regard. But it’s a nice added bonus: if you already have your Switch with you, why not listen to some rocking Order of Ecclesia tunes?

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/16/18140656/super-smash-bros-ultimate-music-nintendo-switch